But how to make sense of the parade of witnesses who have so far testified for the prosecution in Olsen's perjury trial? One after another they offered information that, if given up when they first heard it as far back as 11 years ago, might have led authorities to Kiplyn.
One person's timely tip might have saved years of fruitless searching or prevented detectives' trails from turning ice cold. Not to mention the unspeakable anguish Kiplyn's parents, Richard and Tamara Davis, have lived with since their red-haired daughter with a zest for life disappeared from Spanish Fork High School on May 2, 1995.
Last week, they sat in the front row of the federal courtroom, listening to every detail from witnesses who might have put a halt to this long ago.
More than a dozen of OlÂsen's Utah County friends testified that, between 1995 and 1999, they had heard either innuendo or detailed boasts from him regarding his part in KipÂlyn's disappearance. Some related chilling claims that Olsen blurted out at parties - admissions of beating, raping and killing Kiplyn, then disposing of her body.
Sitting in court most of last week, I figured this was the real mystery. How did the social contract among human beings break down here? Olsen's reputation for bullying and intimidation - especially of women - might explain some of this conspiracy of silence. Tearful testimony from two women who said he raped them was searing. One ex-girlfriend described how Olsen drove her to Spanish Fork Canyon, sexually assaulted her and threatened to leave her there.
Maybe in the lowlife, beer-bash subculture Olsen and his pals ran in, the bully angle makes sense. But where were the kids with backbone? Most came forward over the past two years only after a grand jury subpoenaed them. One exception: On Friday, two women testified to Olsen's expletive-peppered 1999 confession of killing Kiplyn and burying her in Spanish Fork Canyon. Chelsea Deuel and
Lindsey Turbin were only 16 then, and explained how frightened the outburst had left them. They waited years to tell a teacher, who then contacted police.
So then, do we dismiss these witnesses' failure to act simply because they were terribly young at the time? Poor judgment and adolescence go together, like franks and beans.
But still. Ratting out a friend for shoplifting a candy bar or smoking pot in the basement is one thing. Sharing a tip in a kidnapping or murder case rises to a whole other level.
Doesn't it?
Which of these kids missed the Sunday school lesson or mom and dad's lecture on "do what is right, let the consequence follow"? Each witness seemed to sense Olsen's behavior as creepy. The guy could send chills down the spine.
Witness Chris Butterfield testified he once heard a "sloppy drunk" Olsen say: "I did it. I did it. I killed her. I raped her."
But Butterfield, now 28, didn't ask whom he was talking about. He didn't call the police. He shrugged and replied: "Gossip goes around, comes around. He was drunk. I thought he'd kill me."
It really does defy understanding.
hmullen@sltrib.com
